Walking method and apparatus for ski boots

ABSTRACT

A walking method and apparatus for ski boots is disclosed wherein a walking member is detachably affixed to the sole of the ski boot. The walking member has a sole portion for engaging the walking surface and an upper portion for supporting and being affixed to the sole of the ski boot. The walking member depends from the sole of the ski boot and is shaped to provide a forward rocking motion for the ski boot during the user&#39;&#39;s normal stride. The point of engagement of the sole of the walking member with the walking surface is generally confined to a region below the ski boot and between the ball of the foot and the ankle to relieve walking stresses on the ankle of the user.

United States Patent St. Clair 1 May 30, 1972 54 WALKING METHOD ANDAPPARATUS 2,810,213 10 1957 Jonas ..36/7.5 x

FOR SKI BOOTS Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson [72] Inventor: MauriceW. St. Clair, 1021 Sierra Dr., Atmmey Han.y Aim and William J. NolanMenlo Park, Calif. 94025 [22] Filed: July 1, 1970 B TRACT [2]] Appl.No.: 51,507 A walking method and apparatus for ski boots is disclosedwherein a walking member is detachably affixed to the sole of the skiboot. The walking member has a sole portion for en- [52] U.S. Cl.....36/7.5, 36/2.5 AL gaging the walking Surface and an upper portion forSUPPOW [51] ing and being affixed to the sole of the ski boot. Thewalking [5 8] o arc l member depends from the sole of the ski boot andis shaped to provide a forward rocking motion for the ski boot duringthe [56] References Cited users normal stride. The point of engagementof the sole of UNITED STATES PATENTS the walking member with the walkingsurface is generally confined to a region below the Ski boot and betweenthe ball of 887,752 5/1908 Beck et a1 ,.36/7.5 the foot and the ankle torelieve walking Stresses on the ankle 1,868,386 7/1932 Gresvig .36/2.5AL fth user; 2,292,263 8/1942 Amlaw ..36/7.5 2,747,300 5/1956 Field..36/7.5 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 3 D Mel"! l 5 3? PATENTEDMAY 30 m2SHEET 1 0F 2 K 29 gw 9 Fiure 3 igure 5 mvsw'rok MW. S CLAIR ATTORNEYPATENTEDMAY 30 m2 3,665,628

sum 2 OF 2 INVENTOR. M W. ST CLAIR ATTORNEY WALKING METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR SKI BOOTS DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Heretofore, walking blocksand other walking members have been employed as toys for the amusementof children. Such blocks have been designed to generally elevate thefeet by a substantial amount and have been provided with noisemakingdevices, lights and the like for the further amusement of the children.Examples of such prior walking devices are disclosed in US. Pat. No.2,317,020 issued Apr. 20, 1943, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,242,748 issued May20, 1941. In these prior walking block devices, the blocks were wornwith oxfords or other type of normal foot gear which readily permit abending of the ankle such that torques generated by the foot gear arenot transmitted to the ankle.

Ski boots, on the other hand, are characterized by an inflexible soleand a generally inflexible ankle support such that the ankle is rigidlysupported in a fixed position relative to the sole. This is a great aidin skiing since the skier can transmit torques from his leg through therelatively rigid boots to the skis for accurately controlling the actionof the skis. However, this rigid ski boot structure makes walkingextremely difficult and painful. This comes about because during thenormal stride of the user, as the foot is planted and the weight shiftsto that foot, the sole is inclined at an angle to the walking surfacesuch that the heel takes the weight of the walker. The length of therigid sole from a point below the ankle to the heel constitutes a leverarm for exerting torque through the inflexible boot to the leg. At theend of the stride as the walker pushes forward with his toe, the toeportion of the boot is taking the forward pushing force. In this case arelatively long lever arm from the toe to a point below the ankle exertstorque in the opposite direction against the leg. The leg muscles resistthe torque forces but in the process, the users leg muscles are strainedproducing an uncomfortable feeling. These undesired walking stresses canbe relieved somewhat by unfastening the ski boot at the ankle to permitflexing of the ankle. However, this latter action only partiallydecreases the discomfort to the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The principal object of the presentinvention is the provision of an improved walking method and apparatusfor ski boots.

One feature of the present invention is the provision of a walkingstructure for attachment to the sole of a ski boot to depend below thesole for engaging the walking surface, such walking structure beingdimensioned and shaped for providing a forward rocking motion of the skiboot about a point or points of engagement with the walking surface,which point or points of engagement lie intermediate the ends of the skiboot for reducing the torque transferred via the ski boot to the leg ofthe user during a normal walking stride.

Another feature of the present invention is the same as the precedingfeature wherein the point or points of engagement of the walker with thewalking surface are on or near a line interconnecting a normalprojection of the ball and ankle of the user's foot onto the ground.

Another feature of the present invention is the same as any one or moreof the preceding features including the provision on the walkingstructure of two axially spaced points of support for simultaneousengagement with the walking surface when the user is standingstationary, whereby a user can stand stationary with feet togetherwithout having to balance against the rocking motion provided by thewalking structure when the user is walking.

Another feature of the present invention is the same as any one or moreof the preceding features including means for detachably affixing thewalker structure to the ski boot for walking and/or to the ski forstorage while skiing.

Another feature of the present invention is the same as any one or moreof the preceding features including the provision of an elastic treaddisposed on the sole of the walking structure for engagement with thewalking surface to prevent slipping.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent upon a perusal of the following specification taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic line diagram ofa ski boot as worn by a user at the ends of a normal stride anddepicting the torque on the ankle of the user produced by a ski bootwith and without provision of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the ski boot with the walkingstructure of the present invention attached for use,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 2delineated by line 3-3 showing the walker detached from the ski boot,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the structure of FIG. 3 taken along line4-4 in the direction of the arrows,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the structure of FIG. 4 taken along line55 in the direction of the arrows,

FIG. 6 is a view of the structure of FIG. 3 taken along line 6-6 in thedirection of the arrows and turned in the clockwise direction,

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a ski boot attached to a ski withthe walking structure of the present invention attached to the ski forcarrying same, and

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view similar to that of FIG. 2 depicting analternative walker structure of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, thereis shown in schematic line diagram form a ski boot 2 as worn by a userand the forces exerted on the lower leg as a result of walking. Morespecifically, the lower portion of the leg is indicated by I. The skiboot 2 is affixed to the leg 1 via a pair of rigid brace structures 3and 4 interconnecting the heel and toe portion, respectively, of thesole 5 of the boot 2. The rigid supports 3 and 4 are built into the skiboot and rigidly support the lower portion of the leg I relative to theankle joint 6 at a position 7 above the ankle joint 6.

When the user places his foot forward to begin a forward stride, theheel portion 8 of the sole 5 contacts the walking surface 9 and asweight is transferred to that foot a torque is exerted on the ankle boneat 7 due to the lever arm 11 having a length along the sole 5 from theheel 8 to a point corresponding to a projection of the leg bone I ontothe rigid sole 5, as indicated by 12. Thus a torque is developed on theleg bone I at 7 corresponding to the product of the level arm 11 timesthe perpendicular force, indicated by arrow 13. This torque must beresisted by the flesh between the boot and bone structure.

At the completion of the forward stride, just before the foot is liftedto begin a new stride, the boot 2 is tilted with the toe downward andthe heel lifted as shown in FIG. I. In this posi tion, a torque isgenerated in the opposite direction to that generated when the stride isbegun. More particularly, the lever arm is now the distance from the toeof the boot to a point below the ankle where the extension of the legbone 1 intersects the sole 5. Due to this relatively long lever arm, arelatively large torque is generated in the clockwise direction on theleg bone at 7. These undesired torques exerted on the leg at 7 can becompletely eliminated, in the limit, by placing a walking member belowthe instep of the boot at a position corresponding to an extension ofleg 1 and as indicated by line 15. Such a walking member would provide apoint of line contact with the walking surface 9, such line contactextending transversely of the boot 2. The walking member 15 would have alength sufficiently long from the sole of the boot 2 to the walkingsurface 9 such that neither the heel nor the toe of the boot came incontact with the walking surface during a normal stride.

While such a walking rnember 15 serves to relieve torque on the leg 1during walking, it has the disadvantage that only a relatively smallamount of surface area of the walking member 15 is in contact with thewalking surface 9 such that relatively high pressure per square inch isexerted on the walking surface. While this is suitable for walking onrelatively hard surfaces, such as roads and the like, it is notparticularly suitable for walking on relatively soft surfaces, such assnow, since the walking member 15 will merely sink into the walkingsurface 9, thereby degrading the desired performance of the walkingmember 15.

Thus, in a preferred embodiment, the walking member should provide asubstantial surface area for contacting the walking surface 9 during anormal stride. A relatively large number of different configurations forthe walking member would satisfy the above requirement of increasedsurface area in contact with the walking surface 9 during a normalstride. However, the point or points of contact between the walkingmember and the walking surface 9 are preferably kept as close aspossible to the extension of the leg bone 1 to the walking surface inorder to reduce torque on the leg at 7.

One configuration for the walking member is a block having a curved soleportion for engaging the walking surface as indicated by curved line 16.The curved block 16 provides a moving point of contact between the soleof the block and the walking surface 9. such point of contact movingfrom a position slightly forward of the heel to a position near the ballof the foot 17. When walking in soft snow, the curved walking surfacewould sink a slight distance into the snow sufficient to provide asubstantial surface in contact with the walking surface 9. The problemwith such a curved sole for the walking block 16 is that the block hasno stable stationary position such that when the user is standing stillwith his feet together he must continually balance on the curved blocks16 to counteract the tendency for the blocks 16 to rock either forwardor backward.

Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, thewalking block structure has a generally box-like shape as indicated bywalking block 18. The block 18 has an upper portion fixedly attached tothe sole and a lower flat portion 19 for engaging the walking surface 9thereby providing stability when the user is standing stationary. Therear corner or heel portion 21 of the walking block 18 is disposedapproximately below the anklejoint 6. The leading or toe edge 22 of thewalking block 18 is disposed substantially below the ball 17 of thefoot. In this manner, the counter clockwise torque exerted on the leg 1,as the foot is planted moving in the forward direction, is substantiallyreduced because the lever arm for the force exerted on the boot 2 issubstantially shorter than for the boot alone, as indicated by arrow 23.Also, when the toe is tipped downwardly at the end of the stride thetorque producing lever arm is reduced to a distance along the sole 5corresponding to that from the ball 17 of the foot to a verticalextension of the leg bone 1, as indicated by arrow 24. This is to becompared to the lever arm from the toe of the boot to the verticalextension of the leg bone 1 for the boot taken alone, as shown by arrow20. In addition, by providing spaced corners or ridges 21 and 22 ofcontact with the walking surface 9 the stride tends to level outcompared to the stride obtained by the use of the curved walking block16 or ridge walking block of greater height than the box-like block 18.The height of the box-like block 18 is dimensioned such that the heeland toe corners 21 and 22 are approximately in the same plane as theheel and toe of the boot 2 when the boot 2 is inclined to the horizontalwalking surface 9 at the beginning and end of a normal stride. Thisprovides the minimum height for the block 18 without excessive contactbetween the heel and toe of the boot 2 and the walking surface.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-6, the box-like walking member 18 of thepresent invention is shown in greater detail. The walking member 18includes a main body portion 25 formed by a metallic channel member, asof steel or aluminum,

disposed with the bottom of the channel facing upwardly and with thesides 26 of the channel depending toward the walking surface 9. The freeedges of the sidewalls 26 of the channel include inwardly directed lipportions 27 to which elastic tread members 28 are affixed, as by rivets29.

Three bracket members 31 are affixed to the upper surface of the channel25 via screws 32. The clearance holes in the channel 25 are elongated inthe transverse direction to accommodate a transverse adjustment of theindividual brackets 31. The two end brackets include upstanding earportions 33 disposed at the side of the channel 25. Each car 33 includesa horizontally inwardly directed pin 34 for engaging a horizontal borein the sole 5 of the boot 2. The center bracket also includes anupstanding car 36 which is apertured to receive a slidable pin 37therein. Ear 36 is dimensioned to be disposed adjacent the sole 5 of theboot and the pin 37 is arranged to be in alignment with a horizontalbore in the side of the sole 5 opposite the two bores to receive pins 34or in cleats affixed to the side of the sole of the boot.

Pin 37 is bent into a generally J-shape with the long leg of the Jextending through an aperture 38 in the leg 26 of the channel 25 to aregion inside of the channel 25. An apertured bracket 39 extends fromthe base of the channel with the aperture in alignment with pin 37 toreceive the pin slidable therethrough. A collar-shaped stop 41 iscarried on the end of the pin 37 which projects through the aperturedbracket 39 to prevent the pin 37 from being pulled out of engagementwith the aperture in the upper bracket 36. A spring 42 surrounds the pin37 and is compressed between one wall 26 of the channel 25 and aretaining ring 43 affixed to the pin 37 for spring biasing the pin 37through the apertured ear 36.

In a typical example, the walking member 18 has a length 1 sufficient toextend from a position slightly behind the ankle joint 6 to a positiondirectly below the ball 17 of the foot and has a width w substantiallyequal to the width of the ski boot 2 and a height h from the sole 28 ofthe walking member 18 to the sole 5 of the ski boot 2 of approximately1% inches. The elastic tread member 28, as of rubber, serves to preventslipping on the walking surface 9 and is confined to a width inengagement with the walking surface of approximately 1 inch such thatthe pressure on the tread 28 is increased, relative to a tread whichmight cover the entire bottom surface 19, for crushing snow which mightotherwise tend to accumulate on the tread.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown the ski boot 2 mounted on a ski44 via conventional bindings 45. The walking member 18, when not in use,such as when skiing, is conveniently mounted to the ski 44 via theintermediary of a mounting bracket 46 having transversely adjustableupstanding ears apertured to receive pins 34 and 37. To mount thewalking block to the ski, the walking block is merely inverted with cars33 and 36 projecting downwardly in alignment with ears of bracket 46,affixed to the ski 44, and pins 34 and 37 are inserted into holes in themounting bracket 46.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown an alternative walking member 48formed by a channel member having the leg portions of the channelextending crosswise of the sole 5 with the foot portions 27 of thechannel 25 extending inwardly from the ends of the walking member 48toward the center of the walking member. Brackets are affixed to theupper surface of the base of the channel for detachably affixing thewalker 48 to the ski boot 5, in the manner as previously described withregard to the walker 18 of FIGS. 2-6.

Since many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a walker for ski boots, body means having a bottom sole portionfor engaging a walking surface and an upper portion for engaging thesole of the ski boot for supporting the weight of the user, said sole ofsaid body means having a toe portion to engage the walking surface anddisposed such as to be positioned below and generally in the region ofthe ball of the foot of the user and said sole having a heel portion toengage the walking surface and disposed generally in the region belowthe ankle of the user, said toe and heel portions depending downwardlyfrom the sole of the ski boot by relative amounts such that said bodywhen supporting the ski boot in the horizontal position has both saidtoe and heel portions of said sole of said walker body in supportiveengagement with the horizontal walking surface to prevent rocking of theski boot when the user is standing stationary, and wherein said toe andheel sole portions of said body means depend downwardly by an extentsuch that when said walker body is inclined at an angle to thehorizontal walking surface corresponding to the forward-most position ofthe users stride, the heel portion of the sole of said walker body andthe heel portion of the ski boot are in approximately the samehorizontal plane, and when said walker body is inclined at an angle to ahorizontal walking surface corresponding to the rearwardmost position ofthe users stride, the toe portion of the sole of said walker body andthe toe portion of the ski boot are in approximately the same horizontalplane, whereby said walker body substantially reduces walking torquetransmitted to the ankle of the user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including strapless means for detachablyaffixing said walker body to a ski boot for walking.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means for affixing said walkerbody means to the ski boot comprises horizontally directed pin means onopposite sides of said body and carried from said walker body forengaging horizontally directed bores in the sole of the ski boot orstructure affixed to the sole of the ski boot on opposite sides of theski boot.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said pin means on one side of saidwalker body is spring biased to engage a corresponding bore in the soleof or in the structure affixed to the sole of the ski boot.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including an elastic tread means disposed onsaid sole of said walker body for engagement with the walking surface.

6. In a walking apparatus for use with ski boots to relieve walkingstress on the users ankle, walking means for attachment to the sole ofthe ski boot to depend below the sole of the ski boot for engaging thewalking surface to support the ski boot and user for walking andstanding, said walking means being dimensioned and shaped for providingduring a normal stride a forward rocking motion of the ski boot about apoint or points of engagement with the walking surface, which point orpoints of engagement lie intermediate the ends of the ski boot forreducing the torque transferred via the ski boot to the ankle of theuser during a normal walking stride, said walking means including aconnecting structure disposed facing the sole of the ski boot, saidstructure including upwardly extending side portions to extend adjacentthe side edges of the sole of the ski boot, and strapless means forinterconnecting the side portions of said connecting structure with thesole of the ski boot for detachably attaching said walking means to theski boot.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said means for detachably affixingsaid walking means to the ski boot for walking also includes means fordetachably attaching said walking means to the upper surface of a skifor storage while the ski is in normal use for skiing.

1. In a walker for ski boots, body means having a bottom sole portionfor engaging a walking surface and an upper portion for engaging thesole of the ski boot for supporting the weight of the user, said sole ofsaid body means having a toe portion to engage the walking surface anddisposed such as to be positioned below and generally in the region ofthe ball of the foot of the user and said sole having a heel portion toengage the walking surface and disposed generally in the region belowthe ankle of the user, said toe and heel portions depending downwardlyfrom the sole of the ski boot by relative amounts such that said bodywhen supporting the ski boot in the horizontal position has both saidtoe and heel portions of said sole of said walker body in supportiveengagement with the horizontal walking surface to prevent rocking of theski boot when the user is standing stationary, and wherein said toe andheel sole portions of said body means depend downwardly by an extentsuch that when said walker body is inclined at an angle to thehorizontal walking surface corresponding to the forward-most position ofthe user''s stride, the heel portion of the sole of said walker body andthe heel portion of the ski boot are in approximately the samehorizontal plane, and when said walker body is inclined at an angle to ahorizontal walking surface corresponding to the rearwardmost position ofthe user''s stride, the toe portion of the sole of said walker body andthe toe portion of the ski boot are in approximately the same horizontalplane, whereby said walker body substantially reduces walking torquetransmitted to the ankle of the user.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1including strapless means for detachably affixing said walker body to aski boot for walking.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means foraffixing said walker body means to the ski boot comprises horizontallydirected pin means on opposite sides of said body and carried from saidwalker body for engaging horizontally directed bores in the sole of theski boot or structure affixed to the sole of the ski boot on oppositesides of the ski boot.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said pinmeans on one side of said walker body is spring biased to engage acorresponding bore in the sole of or in the structure affixed to thesole of the ski boot.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 including an elastictread means disposed on said sole of said walker body for engagementwith the walking surface.
 6. In a walking apparatus for use with skiboots to relieve walking stress on the users ankle, walking means forattachment to the sole of the ski boot to depend below the sole of theski boot for engaging the walking surface to support the ski boot anduser for walking and standing, said walking means being dimensioned andshaped for providing during a normal stride a forward rocking motion ofthe ski boot about a point or points of engagement with the walkingsurface, which point or points of engagement lie intermediate the endsof the ski boot for reducing the torque transferred via the ski boot tothe ankle of the user during a normal walking stride, said walking meansincluding a connecting structure disposed facing the sole of the skiboot, said structure including upwardly extending side portions toextend adjacent the side edges of the sole of the ski boot, andstrapless means for interconnecting the side portions of said connectingstructure with the sole of the ski boot for detachably attaching saidwalking means to the ski boot.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein saidmeans for detachably affixing said walking means to the ski boot forwalking also includes means for detachably attaching said walking meansto the upper surface of a ski for storage while the ski is in normal usefor skiing.